Five Dozen Roses
by kelly4
Summary: A bit of Clois fluff, stemming from Clark's sending five dozen roses to Lois in Pandora.


**February 2010**

"Lois? Lois, are you alright?"

Grabbing her arm, he quickly turned her toward him, and immediately noticed the confused look on her face.

"I'm fine, Smallville, I was just taking in my new view," she said, tilting her head toward the window that looked out over the city.

"Oh," he said, looking down, a faint red tinge coloring his cheeks. "Sorry, I thought you were…"

"Having another memory?" she interjected. "I think I'm starting to miss the hypoglycemia cover story. At least then when you hovered, you were shoving maple donuts at me," she said, a teasing grin playing on her lips. "Now move it, these boxes aren't going to unpack themselves," she said, turning to the almost daunting stack of said boxes and opening one, missing the indulgent smile on his face as he watched her.

It'd been three weeks since he'd told her everything (well, almost everything) regarding the mysterious flashes. When they'd first started dating, he didn't think he'd have to. She seemed to chalk up her 'dreams' as nothing more than a side effect of low blood sugar and, more importantly to him, she was perfectly healthy.

Then, about a month ago, he'd noticed her zone out at her desk. It had been quick, and if he hadn't been looking at her, he would have missed it completely. When he'd questioned her, she'd nervously shaken it off, grabbing a stack of papers and mumbling something about having to return files to the archive room, and could he grab her a donut or bagel or something? Because she was suddenly hungry.

Then there was the night she'd stayed over at the farm after they'd worked late on a story. The first time they'd shared a bed, just to sleep of course – the phrase 'taking our time' had never seemed so incredibly frustrating to Clark as it had that night – she'd woken up terrified in the middle of the night, her body shaking and her breathing ragged as she'd clung to him.

_"It's okay, Lois," he whispered into her hair, stroking her back as her breathing finally began to go back to normal._

After a few moments, she pulled back, her hand immediately going to the left side of his stomach, pressing gently against one particular spot. Her eyes followed, seeming to search for something in the darkness.

"Lois?"

Her eyes and hand still fixed to that spot, he heard her in a voice barely a whisper, "You're okay."

Glancing down at where her hand still rested, he realized that the spot she was touching was the same place he'd been stabbed during her time in the future.

Gently covering her hand with his, he squeezed it gently. "I'm fine."

She blinked a couple of times, raising her gaze to his, "Yeah. Just a bad dream, I guess."

"One you've had before?"

Startled, Lois pulled back a bit. "Who keeps track of their dreams, Smallville? It was just a stupid nightmare," she said, her tone bordering on defensive. "It's probably my low blood sugar thing acting up. We got so caught up working on the article that I think I missed a couple snack breaks," she continued, suddenly throwing off the covers and leaving the bed. "I'll just go raid the fridge. Be back in a few," she finished, quickly leaving the room.

He watched her go, feeling a sense of uneasiness and fear mixed with guilt.

As he'd watched her sleep the rest of that night, being unable to sleep himself with the knowledge that her flashes had returned and the need to make sure she slept peacefully through the rest of the night, he'd made a decision.

A decision that did not go over well with a certain relative of Lois Lane's, straining an already strained friendship.

_"Clark, you can't tell her."_

"Why not, Chloe? Look, the reason I didn't want her seeing the memories anymore was because it was endangering her health."

"And what about your secret?"

"I didn't tell her."

"Are you sure? You didn't see all of Lois' futuristic adventure."

"Look, in the future she went to, I obviously wanted her to remember when she came back, so she could warn us about the towers. Whatever else, if I ended up telling her everything and she remembers? I'll deal with it. But I'm not gonna let her suffer through this again."

"So we call Dr. Emil. We have him inject Lois with the inhibitor again."

"No."

"Why not? You said yourself you're worried about her health."

"But maybe I was wrong. Maybe we were all wrong."

"Clark, those memories were putting stress on her heart."

"What if it wasn't the memories themselves? What if it was the stress of not knowing what they were, or what they meant? Maybe if she knows the reason she's having them, they won't be so dangerous to her. Maybe it will help her remember more and deal with the memories rather than fighting them."

"You're taking an awfully big risk. You have no idea what else she learned."

"The bigger risk is Lois' health. Keeping this from her is doing more harm than good. If she knows the truth, she and I can handle this together."

A brief flash of aggravation crossed Chloe's face at that, one that didn't go unnoticed by Clark.

"I know you don't agree…."

"I don't."

"But I wanted you to know what I'm doing in case Lois brings it up to you. Don't feed her any lies Chloe. Not anymore."

"And just how do you think you're going to explain this all to her?"

"Let me worry about that."

"I wish I could change your mind," she said, her tone one of resignation mixed with annoyance.

"You can't."

Decision made, he'd brought Lois to the farm that night, sat her down in front of the fire, and told her the truth. Well, as much of it as he could, anyway.

_She fell back on the sofa, her face a mask of shock and confusion._

"Time travel? A time travelling ring? So…these dreams, they're really…"

"Memories. Of what you experienced in the future."

She shook her head slightly, her eyes coming to focus on him.

"I guess living in Smallville all these years must have jaded me a bit, because I should probably be a lot more freaked out about this than I am."

Silence settled over them for a moment as Lois processed all he'd just told her.

"How did you find this out? I mean, about my time jump, the memories, all of it?"

"When you were in the coma, Tess kidnapped you. She'd been obsessed over finding out where you'd disappeared to for those three weeks. She took you to Belle Reve and hooked you up to a machine that allowed her to access your memories."

If it hadn't been such a serious moment, Clark would have laughed at the wide-eyed expression on her face.

"A machine that accesses memories? And little Miss Sociopath had my memories in surround sound? Honestly, I think that freaks me out more than the time travel. What did she see?"

"I don't know, by the time I got there she was trying to cover her tracks."

Lois stood up, her arms wrapped around herself protectively. "The thought that that woman was inside my head makes me physically ill," she said, pausing in front of the fire place and rubbing her hands up and down her arms as if a chill had come over her. Then, suddenly, she whirled toward him. "But wait, if Tess was out by the time you got there and was trying to cover her tracks, how do you know what that machine can do?"

He took a deep breath, standing and approaching her slowly, measuring his words carefully as he noted the questioning look on her face was slowly giving way to realization.

"Oh my God."

"It was an accident Lois, I swear, I didn't mean…"

"You saw my memories?"

"Not all of them, but…"

"I can't believe this," she mumbled, tightening her arms around herself and stepping back from him.

"It wasn't on purpose Lois…"

"So, what?" she interrupted, her voice rising, "You just tripped and fell into my subconscious?"

"Actually, it was something like that," he said, hurrying to continue upon seeing the incredulous look on her face. "Look, there was a lot going on in that room, with Tess and all the machines and wires and…well, when I was unhooking you from the machine, one of the electrodes punctured my skin and the pain made me lose my balance and I fell and hit my head. It knocked me out, but the electrode must have still been hooked into me. That's why I saw some of your memories."

She took a deep breath, seeming to calm slightly at his explanation. "And you didn't tell me, why?"

"I was trying to protect you. And before you get all worked up about that, I realize that I was wrong, okay? Which is why I'm telling you now. Just know that I really was trying to keep you safe, Lois. I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"I am not some damsel in distress that needs her big, strong boyfriend to keep her in the dark in the name of protecting her."

"I know you're not. Look, they told me these memories were affecting your heart. That they were putting a lot of stress on it and that scared me, alright?"

She softened slightly. "Because of your dad?"

"Yeah. I was scared I'd lose you," he said softly. "I figured the less you knew, the safer you'd be."

"And the hypoglycemia story was born."

"Right. I thought if you had a reason, you'd be okay. You wouldn't be so stressed anymore."

"But then the flashes came back."

"And that's when I knew that while most people would be safer knowing less, you're not most people. Maybe if you knew why this was happening, it wouldn't be so hard for you."

She simply nodded. "I'm glad you realized that."

He smiled. "Me too. And given that I kept this from you, I know I don't have much of a right to ask you this, but…Lois, promise me you'll tell me when you have these flashes. Maybe we can figure all of this out together."

The corner of her mouth ticked up into the tiniest of grins. "We do make a good team."

"Yeah, we do."

"And I suppose you have seen some of them already," she said, almost absently as her eyes drifted the fire. Within seconds though, her eyes flew back to his, nervousness written all over her face.

"Exactly what did you see?"

From the color invading her cheeks, Clark had a feeling he knew what she was asking. Swallowing hard, and not wanting to make their situation anymore awkward than it was, he decided one tiny white lie wouldn't hurt.

"Some fighting," he responded, turning and walking back to the sofa to avoid her gaze. "The towers. Metropolis in ruins. And I saw myself get stabbed. That's what you dreamt of last night, wasn't it?" he asked, hoping the question would get her mind off the direction her thoughts were going.

"Yeah…how did you…"

He patted the spot on his stomach that she'd touched the previous night, the same spot Zod had stabbed him in the future.

"You were pretty focused on this when you woke up."

"Right. So…that's all you saw then?"

Fidgeting slightly, running his hand through his hair, he nodded. Her knowing that he'd witnessed their desperate, end-of-the-world and utterly fantastic lovemaking wouldn't do anything but make things uncomfortable between them .

And they had bigger things to deal with.

"Yeah. That's all I saw."

"Hey, earth to Smallville! You know, for a big, strapping farmboy, you're not nearly as helpful a mover as you should be," she teased, tossing a few pillows at him, which he promptly deposited on her sofa.

"Oh, am I going to get Lois Lane's Rules for Moving now?" he retorted with a grin.

"There's really only one rule – unpack," she ordered, pointing to a large cardboard box by the door. Shaking his head slightly, he moved to the box and opened it, lifting out a case containing Lois' heavy metal record collection, a couple sets of drumsticks (for what, he couldn't begin to imagine), and what looked to be two very trashy romance novels. He was just about to tease her about her taste in literature when his eyes fell on another small box.

It was rectangular and covered in a dark purple fabric that was detailed with a blazing sun and several small yellow stars. He couldn't recall having seen it before. He picked it up and looked at Lois questioningly.

"What's this?"

She turned at the sound of his voice, but when she noticed what he was holding in his hands, her eyes widened alarmingly.

"Nothing! Here, I'll take it," she said quickly, and was by his side so fast he could swear she'd gained the power of superspeed.

Furrowing his brow, curious beyond belief now, he held it up a bit, out of her reach.

"Why don't you want me to see it?"

"I never said that," she said, jumping up a bit and grabbing for the box. "Just give it!"

"Tell me what it is first."

"None of your business!"

With amusement, he noted the deep red staining her cheeks.

"It's a very nice box," he said, holding it up even higher as she grabbed onto his arm, fruitlessly trying to pull it down.

"Yes, it is, and I'd really like it back now."

"Why won't you tell me what's in it?"

"Fine," she huffed. "If you must know, it's just…pictures. Pictures of Lucy and me from when we were kids."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Really?"

"Really. Can I have it now?"

Lowering the box, he was just about to place it into her waiting hands when suddenly he snatched it back.

"I'd love to see pictures of you when you were kid," he said, grinning, before taking the lid of the box.

"Clark!" she said, lunging for the box but Clark quickly put it out of her reach.

An unbearable silence (at least to Lois) settled over them as Clark's fingers rifled through the contents of the box. Then, he turned to her, his grin having morphed into a ridiculously adorable smile accompanied by his heart-stopping puppy dog eyes.

Rolling her eyes, the heat radiating from her blushed face, she crossed her arms and gave him a challenging look.

"I swear, if you tell _anyone_ that I was _this_ sappy? I will kick your ass, Smallville. And don't think I can't."

Turning to face her, the box now between them, he finally spoke, his voice laced with affection.

"I can't believe you saved all this stuff."

She shrugged, turning and falling back onto the couch. "I guess you're rubbing off on me. Let's face it, you are the king of sappiness."

"I prefer the term romantic. And you love it. Deny it all you want, Lane, but I know the truth," he said, joining her on the couch and placing the box on his lap.

"Maybe I don't mind it so much," she responded, biting the side of her lip and gently nudging him with her arm.

"So, let's see," he said, beginning to remove items and inspecting each one. "A napkin from Metro Coffee Stop. Our first coffee date, right?"

Receiving a nod in response, he continued, this time finding a ticket stub in his hand. "Our first monster truck rally."

"Yeah, I was going to add a copy of the book you were reading during it but I decided that that would just be overkill," she teased, eliciting a chuckle from Clark.

"A copy of Stripes. The first movie night we had together after we started dating."

"It's a good thing you're remembering all this stuff."

"Does this earn me brownie points?"

"You don't get brownie points for stuff that's expected, Smallville."

"Right," he said, reaching back into the box. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and proceeded to open it. With a smile, he recognized the article he'd written after Oliver's Ace of Clubs incident, the one where he'd included Lois' name.

"Why'd you save this? We weren't dating yet."

"Well, that night was supposed to be our first date."

"So, you kept this to remind you of how badly I screwed up?" he asked, unable to hide his amusement.

"No, though you _did_ screw up that night. I kept it because, even though you stood me up, you were really sweet in trying to make it up to me."

Impulsively, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"I'm just glad I got another chance."

"I'm just glad you didn't screw _that_ one up," she said, her eyes sparkling.

"Cute," he said, reaching back into the box. This time, he pulled out a bundle of 5 dried red roses, tied together with a blue ribbon. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"The hospital?"

"Yeah."

"Why'd you save five of them?"

"One from each dozen," she replied, taking the flowers from him.

"Wow, you _are_ sappy," he said, receiving a punch in the arm for his remark.

"I learned from the best. Besides, it was the first time you gave me flowers. That's a pretty big deal. Even if the reason I was in the hospital to begin with wasn't exactly romantic. Memories of people dying and you getting mortally wounded aren't exactly what romance novels are made of."

"Oh, I don't know, it wasn't all bad," he said absently, his eyes focused back on the box, continuing to look through the contents. "We definitely had our moments."

He felt her body freeze next to him first. That caused him to think about what he'd just said. And when he did, he closed his eyes.

Not good.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Nothing, what's this?" he said, the tone of his voice rising slightly as he held up another ticket stub, fervently hoping she'd go with the subject change.

Lois, however, had other ideas. She snatched the stub out of his hand and put it back in the box.

"Clark…"

"You know, we should probably get back to unpacking anyway," he said, jumping up and heading toward the kitchen. He opened the first box he saw, taking things out and piling them on the counter.

"I asked you a question," she said, and he turned to see her leaning against the counter. "You said it wasn't all bad. What did you mean by that? Because, you _told_ me that you saw people dying and violence. What part of that isn't all bad?"

"I just…I meant that obviously you were sent back safe…"

"And then you said, we had our moments," she continued, interrupting his weak attempt at a cover.

He sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Lois…"

"Oh God…you saw, didn't you? You saw us."

He faced her, meeting her eyes. "Yes."

She swallowed hard, immediately shifting her focus to the floor.

"Lois…"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'd already unloaded a lot of information on you."

"And the fact that you were also witness to us having sex in the future didn't seem important?"

"Look, it was weird enough admitting to you that I'd been in your memories at all. I just…I thought it would make things more awkward. Which, given the way you're focusing on anything in this room but me right now, I was right about that."

"Oh don't do that, don't try to get out of this by playing the awkward card," she said, turning and walking out of the room. He followed her, watching as she practically threw herself back onto the sofa.

"Come on, Lo…"

"What exactly did you see?" she said, finally meeting his eyes with a pointed gaze.

He could feel the telltale signs of a furious blush creeping up his neck. "Well…you know…you saw it too," he said weakly.

"I want details. I wanna know what I'm dealing with," she said with a smirk.

He cleared his throat, rubbing roughly at the back of his neck. "Lois…"

And then suddenly, he heard her burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh Smallville, you should see your face."

Confused, he looked at her doubled over on the couch, then relaxed.

"Payback," he said, shaking his head.

"You're just lucky I like you. I could have made you describe it in full detail. But you looked like you were about to pop a blood vessel so I took pity on you."

"Gee, thanks, Lo."

"Anytime," she said, picking up the bundle of flowers once more. "Well, these take on a whole new meaning now."

"What do you mean?"

She looked at him with a wicked grin. "You see us having sex in the future and then I get 5 dozen roses in my hospital room? I'm guessing it was good for you," she said.

"Hey, that's not why I got you those," he responded, but grinned when she quirked an eyebrow at him in response. "But, I'll admit, taking things slow has been a lot more difficult knowing what I'm missing."

She bit the side of her bottom lip, a move that never failed to get his heart beating about ten times faster.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," she said, reaching up and tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear. "I'm glad we are though. Taking it slow."

He sighed slightly before giving her a small nod. "Me too."

She chuckled. "You're a terrible liar, Smallville. But don't worry, you won't have to wait forever."

"We'll wait as long as you want, Lois," he said sincerely, running his finger over her jaw tenderly.

"Thank you," she said quietly, moving forward and gently capturing his lips for a brief soft kiss. "Of course, now there's this added pressure."

"What do you mean?"

She held up the bundle of flowers. "I gotta live up to five dozen roses in the present," she said, her lips ticked up into a grin.

Taking the flowers from her, he placed them back in the box. "You don't have anything to worry about," he said, pulling her close to him and assuring her with a long, passionate kiss.

***  
**1 Month Later – Lois' Apartment**

"Stupid sun," she murmured, burying her head into her pillow as she wrapped her thick quilt around her naked body, attempting to fend off the morning chill.

That's when she realized what was wrong with this picture.

Why did she no longer have a big, warm farmboy wrapped around her? He was definitely warmer than the quilt.

"Clark?" she murmured, blindly reaching beside her, only to find an empty space. Opening her eyes, she confirmed what her hand had already told her. She was sleeping alone.

A pang of disappointment ran through her, having hoped to wake up this morning, of all mornings, in his arms. Well, she thought it was morning, anyway, before taking a quick glance at the clock on her nightstand.

12:30PM.

She smirked slightly, memories of the last time her eyes had fallen on that clock, when it had read 4:17AM, rushing back to her. The beginning of round #3.

And totally worth it.

Sighing, she laid her head back on the pillow, turning it slightly to face Clark's empty one. Noticing a folded piece of paper resting on it, she reached out, flipping it open to read it.

_Lo, forgot I didn't leave Shelby food. Have to head back to the farm. I'll call you later._

She shook her head, amazed that Shelby was still a functioning mammal given all the times Clark apparently forgot to feed him. Deciding she needed a caffeine boost, she kicked off her covers and got up. Heading to her closet, she pulled out a familiar and worn red and gold plaid flannel, one of the several she'd pilfered on her visits to the farm. Slipping it on, she opened her bedroom door to head to the kitchen.

And then she stopped. Dead.

Because her apartment? Had been turned into a florist's shop.

Every single flat surface was covered with red roses. Two dozen on her kitchen counter. Another dozen on her coffee table. One of each end table. Three on her window seat. Four more on her kitchen table.

Stunned, her eyes flitted from one to the next, then back again. Finally, they settled on the bouquet sitting atop her coffee table. A white envelope peeked out among the gorgeous red blooms. Walking over, she picked up the envelope and opened it. As she read the familiar handwriting, a gorgeous smile lit up her face.

_The memory doesn't even come close to the real thing. Love, Clark._


End file.
